Erase Stoops from ND's list

December 06, 2009|AL LESAR Tribune Staff Writer

Ever since speculation began on who might replace Charlie Weis as head football coach at Notre Dame, the name of Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops has popped up most often. Throughout the week, Stoops offered vague denials, trying to deflect the attention, but he never really came out and put an exclamation point on his intentions to stay with the Sooners. Until Saturday. After being besieged by another round of rumors, Stoops, once and maybe for all, put an end to his involvement in the process. "For the third, and hopefully final, time, let me again state that I will continue to be the coach at Oklahoma," he said in a statement through the Oklahoma sports information department. "I appreciate the history and tradition of Notre Dame. I also appreciate the history and tradition of Oklahoma, and I have been part of building that tradition here. "I work for a wonderful president and athletic director, who have created an incredible work environment at OU. There haven't been any plans for a meeting or negotiations with Notre Dame and there will not be. Any reporting contrary to that fact is completely erroneous. I will not be the next coach at Notre Dame." That leaves Cincinnati head coach Brian Kelly as the most popular focus of the search. Late in Cincinnati's win over Pittsburgh Saturday, ESPN reported Kelly was interested in talking with Notre Dame officials, though there was no indication any meeting had taken place or was planned. And it contradicts comments from Cincinnati players following his team's 45-44 victory over Pitt on Saturday. "He said, 'It's not an issue; I'm not going there,' " safety Aaron Webster told espn.com. "He said, 'I love Cincinnati, and I'm staying here.' " "I'm not going to talk about any job situations," Kelly said after the game. "I'm going to enjoy this victory. Let's talk about back-to-back-championship teams and these kids." Wide receiver Mardy Gilyard echoed Webster's comments. He said in Kelly's talk to the team on Thursday, the coach was emphatic about not leaving. "He said, 'All this foolishness about me trying to go somewhere, that's just foolish,' " Gilyard said. "Coach Kelly, he made us strongly feel (he wasn't leaving). It's almost like when your mom tells you the sky is blue, and you just know it's blue. You don't even have to look outside. "With coach Kelly telling us he's not leaving, we know he's not going anywhere." Though he may not fit the profile of Notre Dame's need for a defensive-minded coach, Skip Holtz's stock may be on the rise following Saturday's 38-32 victory over Houston to give Holtz's Pirates (9-4) a second straight Conference USA championship. The Pirates' recent success has made the fifth-year coach a common name mentioned when coaching jobs open. Holtz said Saturday his focus is on what he has to do to keep the East Carolina program moving forward. He declined to comment about any specific coaching vacancies. Bob Wieneke contributed to the report.